Well — that’s a pleasant story, isn’t it? It might feel like it belongs more in Game of Thrones or Lord of the Rings than in the Gospels.
And yet, those familiar with Scripture know that the Bible can be violent at times. In fact, it does not get more violent than crucifixion.
That does not mean the Bible glorifies violence, or that God prescribes it for his people. Rather, the Bible tells the truth about God’s relationship with the world — and there is violence in the world, and there is violence in the human heart.
The God we encounter in Scripture is not distant or detached from this. He is not unmoved by the plight of his creation. God takes evil and sin, injustice and suffering, seriously, and acts against it.
God is life, and love, and light, and truth. He desires these things for his creation. And he has, does, and will overcome all that seeks to destroy it — death and hatred, darkness and lies.
And so we pray this morning, that God may speak light into our lives even through these seemingly dark stories. Amen.
Over the past month — and also back in Advent — we have been reflecting deeply on John the Baptist. John plays a crucial role in the early ministry of Jesus, which is why he appears so often in the lectionary at this time of year. But this year, we have lingered with him a little longer, by delving into all of John chapter 1.
I wanted us to do that because I believe John the Baptist offers a powerful picture of what the church is called to be in the world in these time.
And so today we turn to this reading which tells us the story of John’s death. Any deep dive into John should include it because it is a critical part of his story. And even within the gruesomeness of this narrative, I believe John continues to offer us an example of what it looks like to follow Jesus.
But before we get into that, let us take a moment to remind ourselves what we have been learning about John and his role in the past month or so.
Firstly, John’s role was to prepare the way for Christ.
As we heard in Advent, he was “the voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; make his paths straight.’”
For John, this meant calling people to repentance — not simply feeling sorry, but transforming their lives. Turning away from darkness and sin – both systemic and social injustice as well as our individual failings – toward the light. Living now for the Kingdom of God that had come near in Jesus.
Second, John’s role was to baptise. He baptised the people, and he baptised Jesus. Yet John never made baptism about himself. He did not use it to control, coerce, or elevate his own status.
John understood that baptism is not primarily about the person doing the baptising, or even about the person being baptised. It is about Jesus — about what he has done, what he is doing, and what he will do. I have said this over and over but baptism does not create salvation; it reveals the salvation that has always been ours.
As John himself said, “I came baptising with water for this reason, that he might be revealed.”
Third, John’s role was to bear witness to Christ. Over and over again, John humbly points not to himself but to Jesus. He refuses identities that are not his and makes no promises he cannot keep, humbly saying, “Among you stands one whom you do not know, the one who is coming after me; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandal.”
And when his own disciples left him to follow Jesus, John did not cling to them. He did not compete for influence or followers. He was not interested in building his own kingdom — only Jesus’. Later he would say: “He must increase, but I must decrease.”
And that brings us to today’s reading — and to John’s final role – to speak truth to power. And like the prophets before him, he does this with integrity and courage and great cost to himself.
The Herod in this story is Herod Antipas, often called Herod the Tetrarch because he had only one quarter of the Kingdom of his father, the other three quarters belong to his brothers. He is the son of Herod the Great — the king who ruled at Jesus’ birth and ordered the massacre of the infants and who killed his wife due to his paranoia. A fact I imagine plagued the Herodias in this story. This does not justify her actions but it helps us understand them.
He is a man who has been shaped by violence and fear of losing power. And he has taken Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife — who is also his niece. We are not told how this came about, but it is clearly problematic on a number of levels and it goes against Jewish law.
And John was the only one brave enough to say so.
Herod would have known this already though. But like many powerful people before and after him, Herod seems to believe that the rules do not apply to him. He seems to believe that he can have whatever and whoever he likes whenever he likes. And probably mostly he cld because no one else had ever dared to say otherwise.
Not John the Baptist. Never one to mince his words, John calls this out and Herod puts him jail.
And then eventually, through the grotesque mix of pride, cowardice, and public performance that we heard today, he is executed.
It is a terrible death for an extraordinary man. And yet John faces it with moral courage. He could likely have saved himself by recanting, by softening his words, by staying silent. But as always, John places the Kingdom of God above his own safety.
He stands in stark contrast to everyone else in the story — people ruled by fear, self-preservation, their desire for influence and power.
As most of you know each year I ask for a verse to guide my year. This year it come from Psalm 111: “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.”
That is a difficult phrase, even for me. So much of Scripture calls us away from fear. Last year my verse was “for God did not give us a spirit of fear. . . ”
But I do wonder, how differently might this story have unfolded if those involved feared God more than they feared losing status or control? If they had acted like the Hebrew midwives, or like Esther or of course John— people who, in the face of great powers, feared God enough to risk their lives for others?
All this, I think, remains the role of the church.
As a church you are entering into a time of transition. I am really sad not to be entering into it with you, although I guess if I was you would not be entering into it. You will not have a minister for a little while. But you are still the church. And I leave you with the example of John the Baptist to keep
- Preparing the way for Christ. The Basis of Union God reminds us that “Christ has given to all people in the Church the Holy Spirit as a pledge and foretaste of the coming reconciliation and renewal which is the end in view for the whole creation. The Church’s call is to serve that end: to be a fellowship of reconciliation, a body within which the diverse gifts of its members are used for the building up of the whole, an instrument through which Christ may work and bear witness to himself. The Church lives between the time of Christ’s death and resurrection and the final consummation of all things which Christ will bring; the Church is a pilgrim people, always on the way towards a promised goal; here the Church does not have a continuing city but seeks one to come. On the way Christ feeds the Church with Word and Sacraments, and it has the gift of the Spirit in order that it may not lose the way.
- BaptisingWhile you will need a minister to do this, in the meatime you can testify to baptism and the salvation that it reveals. To live in a way that points to what God has done and is doing in your lives.
- Bearing witness to Christ. In your words, and in the way you live. In how you treat one another and how you love the world.
- And speaking to truth to power. This church has over the last few years taken a particular interest in prison ministry and advocating for better conditions for prisoners. Along with issues of water justice, particularly praying and supporting those involved in the Singleton Water licence case. Keep that up as well as I know many of you are advocating for things in schools and in this community.
I think this is especially important right now, when Christianity is being co-opted by political or cultural movements that are angry, inward-looking and more focused on power and exclusion than on the expansive and generous love of God.
It may not change the whole world but this work matters. Don’t measure its worth by how successful you are but how faithful you are. Faithful to this this community, this church and to each other and to the Way of Christ. It matters. And God is with you.
So let us sing, “your labour is not in vain.” As always you may remain seated for this one and
